Police, Dec. 30

State Route 309 in Rush Township was shut down for several hours Friday after a tractor-trailer crashed.

Rush Township police said Ronald Aktinson, 68, Allentown, lost control of the tractor-trailer while driving south on Route 309, also known as Claremont Avenue, at about 11:39 a.m., just south of Fairview Street.

For an unknown reason, Aktinson traveled over the median into the northbound lanes and back over to the southbound lanes where he drove through the guide rails and went down an embankment, police said.

Aktinson had to be extracted through medical means, police said, and was airlifted to a local trauma center. Traffic on Route 309 was detoured.

Driver sought after I-81 crash

State police at Hazleton are searching for the driver of a car that allegedly forced another motorist off Interstate 81 shortly after 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

The incident happened in the southbound lanes, two-tenths of a mile south of the Interstate 80 junction. Police said a driver whom they did not identify told them his vehicle was cut off by an Audi and forced off the road, where it hit a guide rail.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact police at 570-459-3890.

Woman suffers injuries in Ryan Twp. crash

Diane C. Watkins of Palmyra was transported to Schuylkill Medical Center South in Pottsville for minor injuries she received in a one-vehicle crash Friday on Interstate 81 in Ryan Township, state police at Frackville said.

According to police, Watkins was traveling south on the interstate around 3:11 p.m. when she veered off the road and crashed into a tree. Watkins was wearing a safety belt, police said.

She will be cited for careless driving, police said. Police were assisted by the Humane Fire Company of Mahanoy City and the Ryan Township Ambulance.

Man cited for disorderly conduct

Miguel A. Sanchez, 53, was charged with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct after police responded to a report of a domestic disturbance on West First Street in Hazleton at approximately 4:30 a.m. Friday, city police said.

Sanchez was found intoxicated, in his underwear, yelling in the street, police said.

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Not long ago, homelessness was unheard of in the Hazleton area. Rents and the cost of homes were low and almost universally affordable; families routinely found rooms for poor relatives in basements, attics or other small household areas. However, today’s
(read more)

Not long ago, homelessness was unheard of in the Hazleton area. Rents and the cost of homes were low and almost universally affordable; families routinely found rooms for poor relatives in basements, attics or other small household areas. However, today’s
(read more)